June 2013
Medicinal plants and their bioactive constituents: A review of bioactivity against Schistosoma mansoni
Schistosomiasis is a neglected disease that affects approximately 200 million people worldwide. In order to reduce the parasite prevalence, further researches aiming new treatment methods is necessary. Once infected by Shistossoma mansoni, one can have no symptoms in the acute phase, however, chronic phase is characterized by marked egg-induced hepatic granulomatous inflammation. To prevent the disease, the main...
June 2013
Assessing the curative potential of Brassica oleracea extracts against drug resistant uropathogens
Various extracts of Brassica oleraceae were investigated against a few drug resistant uropathogens. The crude extracts showed activity against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The extracts showed significant zones of inhibition ranging from 4 to 14 mm respectively, whereas the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against them ranged from 6.25 to 200 µg/ml concentration. The lowest...
June 2013
Biological assessment of Berberis vulgaris and its active constituent, berberine: Antibacterial, antifungal and anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) effect
Berberis vulgaris is a shrub in the family Berberidaceae. B. vulgaris as well as other berberine (BER) containing plants are used medicinally in virtually all-traditional medical systems. In the present study, the efficacy of ethanolic extract of dried root powder of B. vulgaris as anti bacterial, anti fungal and anti hepatitis C was evaluated. Also, its efficacy for induction of phagocytisis...
June 2013
Antifungal and antioxidant activity of crude extracts of three medicinal plants from Cameroon pharmacopea
Three medicinal plant (Milletia laurentii, Tephrosia vogelii, Croton macrostachyus) extracts traditionally used in Cameroon to manage infectious diseases, were chosen and screened for their phytochemicals composition, antioxidant properties and antifungal activity againstTrichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton soudanense and Trichophyton violaceum. Plant powders were extracted by maceration in...
June 2013
Characterization and antioxidant properties of polysaccharides from flowers of Sophora japonica L. (Huaihua)
Sophora japonica L. flower polysaccharides (SJFP) were extracted with hot water, the crude polysaccharides were de-proteinized by Sevag method and fractionized by DEAE-52 column chromatogram. Five fragments were obtained, namely SJFP-A, SJFP-B1, SJFP-B2, SJFP-B3 and SJFP-B4. SJFP-A and SJFP-B3 were further purified by Superdex G-200 filtration column chromatography. The resulted two fractions SJFP-AA and SJFP-BB were...
June 2013
Botswana faith leaders’ attitudes towards the use of indigenous medicinal herbs
A phenomenological study involving leaders of different faith groups revealed different opinions about the use of indigenous medicinal plants to treat human ailments. Some churches seem to have incorporated cultural beliefs into their doctrines and so were more receptive to the idea of using traditional medicines. However, a number of them still query the quality, usefulness and safety of traditional medicines because...
June 2013
Neuroprotective effect of salidroside on hemisection-induced spinal cord injury in rats
The effect of salidroside on hemisection-induced spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats was investigated. The Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into six groups: Sham control group, SCI model group, the methylprednisolone sodium succinate (MPSS) group, the salidroside-low dosage group, the salidroside-moderate dosage group and the salidroside-high dosage group. The SD rats were hemisected at spinal cord at the T8...
June 2013
Achillea fragrantissima extract exerts its anticancer effect via induction of differentiation, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cell line K562
The advantages of herbs in cancer therapy/prevention are attributed to their broad inhibitory activity against multiple aberrant cancer specific pathways and non-toxic nature. Achillea fragrantissima (Af) is a traditional herb used to treat viral fever and chronic diseases such as arthritis and diabetes. However, the anticancer potential of Af has not been studied yet. Anticancer properties of...
June 2013
Studies on the antiinflammatory, antinociceptive and antimicrobial activities of Combretum calobotrys (Combretaceae) leaf
The methanol:dichloromethane extract of Combretum calobotrys Engl & Diels (Combretaceae) leaves (CCE) was subjected to solvent-guided fractionation to yield the hexane (HF), dichloromethane (DF) and methanol (MF) fractions. The anti-inflammatory effects of the extract and fractions were evaluated in rodents using xylene-induced topical ear edema, carrageenan-induced pedal edema, formaldehyde-induced...
June 2013
In vitro antimicrobial investigation of Zanthoxylum chalybeum stem bark
The antibacterial properties of ethanolic, dichloromethane (DCM) and acetone ofZanthoxylum chalybeum stem bark were evaluated with the gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) and Candida albicans. All tested bacteria have been shown to be resistant to the acetone extracts whereas, only S....
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